The novice class with an entry of 35 teams and run against a bogey time was won by the Court Flyers II a team of youngsters who really enjoyed their round, the team consisted of Lorna Hassell – Rojo, Zoe Baker – Hughie, Sofie Grey – Dottie. In second place were the Moody Mares third the Worcestershire Wanabees and fourth the Hare’um Scare’um team.

Fifteen teams were entered in the open, the last chance to qualify for the championship next week at the Fernie, however, two teams the Stanton Jesters and the Taunton Vale Tornados did not come forward to the start.

First to go, Bollocks to Blair, were only running with three members, Anita Hall leading away, Jos Hanbury and Rowan Cope, with only three in the team they had to make sure all of them finished and were going extremely well until a run off at the huge pipe fence for Anita Hall appeared to upset their rhythm, however, she was clear at the second attempt and things went well until Rowan Cope had a run off at the gates eight fences from home, he did get over at the third attempt but many vital seconds had been lost, their time of 324.78s put them into eventual fifth place.

Hair Raisers II had an interesting line up of all ladies, Penny Still – Erin, Hannah Johnson – Toddy, Debbie Topping – Chloe and Yvonne Goss – Pembrook, set off full of determination but unfortunately lost Hannah when her horse took a distinct dislike to fence 6 and after three refusals was eliminated, Penny Still also had a run out at fence 6 which is quite an inviting hedge but with a drop on landing. This left Yvonne and Debbie having to wait quite a while at the pen for Penny to catch up, they also had a stop at the water and two runs outs at the penultimate fence, a time of 348.33 giving them eighth place.

Next to go were This That and the Other(s), Mark Hall, Jane Pope and Ginny Sherwin were joined by Allen Brown on his new horse, this was the first outing for the partnership and setting off in the lead it was obvious Allen was going for a steady clear, it was great to see him back to form and on a horse that enjoyed the job immensely, the whole team angled the tricky eventing type fences towards the end of the course beautifully. A time of 358.38 was not good enough to put them in the prizes.

Tamara Vestey led off the Bitch Pack in their usual immaculate style, her horse Harry giving her a great ride, mum Rosie back in Open events on Joseph was in second place ably backed by Sophie Rucker – Tucker and Julie Wheeler – Oscar, all was going well until they came to the tricky little drop fence six from home where Julie Wheeler had a stop and was lucky to keep the partnership intact, however their time of 310.52s was now the time to aim at.

Next to go were the Teme Valley Tigers, Sarah Myhill and Maggie set off in their usual thrusting manner, with Nicky Wenban - Charlie, Paul Browse – Sox and Bryan Allen – Indy having a superb round with all four of them through the pen in fine style, they really ate the ground up and with no mistakes through the water, altogether at the fan fence and terrific angles through the gate and tyres complex, they stopped the clock on 289.97s giving them the lead and if they go as well next week at the championships they are definitely going to be favourites for the Goring Hotel title.

Fight the Ban were next to come under starters orders, Tom Gittins, who had spent many hours working on the course led the team away on his new horse Tyson with Ben Pauling unusually in second place on Noisy Minor, Dom White – Lofty and S.J. Seal – Harry. The fourth horse got left behind quite early on, there were a few hairy moments at fence 7 and when Ben Pauling had a fall their chance had gone, a time of 328.75s gave them 6th place and also the prize for the fastest Heythrop team.

The Odds & Sods were next to go Heather Moodie setting sail on the lovely grey Kowhai giving them and great lead with Geoff Lockwood in second, Freddie de Giles – Grass and Micky Harris, going well until the top of the course, when a horse fall and a remount left the team eliminated.

Hair Raisers first team came under orders next, Debbie Topping on the indefatigable Junior led the way with Aly Brown – Jota, Yvonne Goss – Perry and Paul Thomason – Tiny, they were really eating the ground over the first part of the course, however, Paul Thomason had a most unusual run out at fence three with Tiny and then again a run out at fence six. The girls, however, were going great guns, Yvonne was hanging onto the hard pulling Perry as they approached the pen, but their tactics were fine, with some great angles through the technical part of the course towards the end, it looked as if they were about to beat the Teme Valley, but could not quite manage it, a time of 293.03s put them into second.

Marston Misfits, had Jo Mannicom on Alfie leading with Sally Main – Hobby, Lynne Deakin – Beanie and Alan George riding the inexperienced Mathilda in hot pursuit. All was going well, although perhaps missing a few angles through the twist of hedges, but they totally missed the pen as Alan was still in the air when Sally and Jo took off, this of course added 20 seconds to their score which was a pity as they would have just crept into the prizes without the penalty. Alan, who had lost a stirrup over the latter part of the course was extremely lucky to stay on board Mathilda when she had a stop at the drop, but they got over at the second attempt and did get a finishing time of 349.65s.

Boring Gorings were next, Linda Adams had a nightmare journey from her home way down south as she had a blow out on the lorry, however she did manage to make it to the event in time to walk the course, Fred French set off in the lead on Doodle but he too took a dislike to fence 6 and threw in the towel, Linda took over the lead and they were going well until the pen, when they too messed it up incurring a 20 second penalty, Nick Fuller – Coco and Graham Smith – Budgie also had a few problems with run outs at the tyres and drop fence so they were out of the running finishing in a time of 356.35s.

The Gone Astray team of Nessie Lambert – Mister Rushby, Alex Speir – Hamish, Diana Henderson – Alphabetic and Jo Rugman – Drew, also missed the pen and Nessie Lambert then missed the white flag going into the big pipe fence and had to retrace her steps, she had ridden twice round Gatcombe in the morning and then driven down to Chipping Norton, thus having a very busy day, a further run out at the gates gave the a time of 401.14s.

There were now only two teams left to run, Ship or Bust were next to go and as they raced to the first fence there were plenty of verbals between the team, Tony Pellet – Flick, Simon Pearce - Tinny, Liz Hibbard – Jack, and Amy Ephgrave – Roger, were so competitive they all wanted to take the lead, however, they had a great round in which they achieved some very tight angles and immaculate through the pen, managing to stop the clock in a time of 316.88s giving them a well earned 4th place and booking their ticket to the championships next week.

Last to go were the Wishful Thinkers, Simon Coady – Otter, Lissie Sidal – Black Demon, Katie Luthbertson – Swoft Venture were joined by Paul Browse, Simon set off in the lead, but had to wait at the pen for the third to catch up, they also missed the flag at the pipes and had a refusal at the water and a run out at the gates, but at time of 342,69s was good enough to give them 7th place and also booked their ticket to the championships as the second Heythrop qualifier.

Thirty-eight teams lined up for the Intermediate and it was good to see it won in fine style by the Odds and Sods II team of Ali Lydner, Cathy Twiston-Davies, Charlie Brookes and Kew Purcell. Second place went to the Mixed Pack, Rosie Vestey having her second ride of the day this time on Jacob, with Sophie Rooker, and Jane Edmunds they finished just 6 seconds behind the Odds & Sods. Third place went to the Royal Ag Nags, fourth were Tigers Too, fifth were Alpha-1st and sixth The Windfalls team who also won the first Heythrop team.

George Goring kindly drew the running order for the championships, to be held next week at the Fernie, before the prize giving took place. This will be the final time George sponsors the championships and I am sure all the competitors will join me in thanking him for his huge generosity over the years and hope we will still see him at many of the events in the future.

Netty Nevill